Page 116 of Silent Threat
A cart rattled in the hallway.
Annie jumped from the bed and had barely settled into the chair next to it when a nurse shuffled in. The older woman checked Cole’s vitals and removed the IV, praising him for his speedy recovery.
“I want to take a shower,” Cole said after the woman left. He reached for Annie. “I’m going to need your help.”
He was using his I’m-a-Navy-SEAL-and-what-I-think-should-happen-will-happen voice. He was barely twenty-four hours out of surgery, and still he was as imposing as he’d ever been. How was that even possible?
But she let him pull her up.
They began by brushing their teeth together, like an old married couple. The warm intimacy of that small, insignificant act made her smile.
“You look sexy in scrubs,” he said as he put his toothbrush into the glass. Then he stepped behind her and began easing up her green top.
“They’re going to kick us out of here, I hope you know that.”
He reached around her and locked the door. “I’m ready to get out of here anyway.”
He tugged off her top. Since he only had on pants to start with, now they were even.
His gaze dropped to her chest and heated. He pressed her back against his front and lifted his left hand, watching in the mirror as he ran his thumb over one nipple first, then the other.
Her nipples tightened. The self-satisfaction on his face was something to see.
“It’s from the cold,” she said.
“Then let’s get you under some warm water.” He reached to her waist and pulled down her pants.
There was nothing for her to do but step out of them. She didn’t have underwear on. The ones she’d come in with had been soaked from her midnight swim, along with the rest of her clothes.
Cole turned on the water, then chucked off his own pants. Annie just tried to keep from fainting. Because—Holy Mother of Skunks—Cole Makani Hunter was completely naked. With her.With her!
She stepped into the water for some breathing space, not that it worked. Because Cole was not only completely naked, he was completely hard. Everywhere.
She closed her eyes. “How is this even possible? You lost a ton of blood. Do the laws of hydraulics not apply to Navy SEALs?”
His laugh was a low rumble near her ear. “I’d say it’s the miracle of IV fluids, but I’m pretty sure it’s the miracle of Annie Murray.”
His warm lips brushed over hers just as she was opening her eyes. She closed them again on a helpless groan. No feeling on earth compared to Cole kissing her, the hot steam rising around them.
He kept a careful couple of inches between them, but she stepped forward, into his arms. One strong arm went around her, naked skin pressed against naked skin, soft parts pressed against parts extremely firm. Hard. Steel.
“We can’t,” she groaned against his lips.
“I could.”
“I won’t be responsible for a relapse.”
He kissed her again and again, owning her mouth. He grew harder, if possible. When he broke away, it was on a strangled groan, as if he was stopping himself at the last second.
His voice was hoarse, his gaze all consuming, as he said the single word. “Turn.”
She obeyed.
His hand left her for only a few seconds before returning to the middle of her back, soapy and slippery. He gently scrubbed her back, her bottom, her legs, the outside on the way down, the inside on the way up. Then he slid his hand to the front of her body.
He got lost on her breasts for a while. He pressed himself against her back, his erection pressing against her. “Lean back against me, and loop your arms around my neck.”
She did, and he moved his head over her shoulder to better see what he was doing.
